Roaring at the moon

EAST WHITELAND — The Penn State Lunar Lions visited Penn State Great Valley Thursday to discuss their historic mission of being the first university-led team to land a spacecraft on the moon.

The Lunar Lions are a part of main campus at Penn State and consist of 80 team members looking to land a robotic module on the moon. Around eight Lunar Lions visited Penn State Great Valley’s Conference Center on Thursday to speak about their work so far. The lecture was part of the 50th anniversary speaker series at Great Valley.

According to Michael Paul, director of the Lunar Lion Team, the team began working in 2011 to win the Google Lunar XPRIZE. To win the competition, the team must be the first to land a private craft on the surface of the moon by Dec. 31, 2015.

The spacecraft must land safely on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters above, below, or on the Lunar surface and send back two live photos or videos to Earth, according to the competition’s website. The team that reaches the moon first will win nearly $30 million in incentive based prizes and funding.

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“Penn State is leading the charge,” said team member JP Muncks, a second year graduate student studying aerospace.

Paul said that there currently are 18 other teams in the competition, but the Lunar Lions are the only team comprised of students and based from a university.

“We’re not doing it for the money,” said Paul. “We’re doing it for space explorers of the future.”

Students and faculty alike said during the presentation at Great Valley’s campus that whether they win the Google Lunar XPRIZE or not, they are still going to be the first university team on the moon. Student Team Leader Ajeeth Ibrahim, a 2nd year graduate student majoring in Areospace, said that the program serves as an incentive for students to come to the university.

“When we give talks like this, we have had students come to us and tell us that this is why they chose to come to Penn State,” said Ibrahim. “It gets people inspired. This is literally a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

During the presentation, students and faculty spoke about the module and their partnerships with corporations and NASA to complete their project. The group added that a variety of students from different majors and different age groups are working on the project.

They also noted that the project gives students a chance to learn hands-on about aerospace and engineering, an opportunity most don’t receive.

“I get to show up every day, and learn about rocket science,” said team member Liam Weigh, a freshman undergraduate.

One of the main reasons for the presentation Paul said was for “public outreach” to raise money for the project. Paul said overall the Lunar Lion project will cost an estimated $60 million. The group has raised around $120,000 so far.

The group has started a fundraising project that gives donors gifts for various stages of fundraising. Paul said the most popular gift is for a donation of $100, which allows the donor to submit 140 characters, like a tweet, that will then be inscribed in gold and placed inside a time capsule on the module. For $5,000, donors can have their name inscribed on the side of the module.

“It’s near immortality,” said Paul, adding that these items could survive on the moon for “millions of years.”

The Lunar Lions said that their ultimate goal is not only just going to the moon, but to make Penn State University a space industry leader.

“We want to become the premiere university for the space industry,” said Paul.

In order to donate to the Lunar Lions, visit www.rockethub.com/lunarlion.

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About the Author

Kendal Gapinski is the Daily Local News reporter covering events in the Whiteland and Uwchlan areas. She is a 2013 graduate from American University. Reach the author at kgapinski@dailylocal.com
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